Box-covering machine.



S. M. LANGSTON. BOX COVERING MACHINE. APPLICATION IILBD AUG. 14, 1909.

1,054,427, Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W/TNESSES A 7'TOHNEYS INVENTOH S. M. LANGSTON. BOX COVERING MACHINE.APPLICATION FILED AUG.14, 1909.

1,054,427, Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I I1 I I :P'TIJZTEJEW if 55' l?!) 6026? W/T/VESSES lNVE/VTOl? Jay/11M7010 aa/za/(l Lax/ 5100 1:) J B y F @Zmc shaft 12 extending alongtSAMUEL M. LANGSTON, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY.

BOX-COVERING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

Application filed August 14, 1809. Serial No. 612.883.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL Maononann Lanos'ron, a citizen ofthe UnitedStates, and a resident of Camden, in the county of Camden and State ofNew Jersey, have invented a new'and Improved Box-Covering Machine, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to machines for a plying paper covers to boxes,cartons or he ike, and severing the covering into sections, each sectionbeing sutlicient for a single box or carton. In machines of thischaracter it is customary to provide a rotatable support or form' forthe box or carton and to deliver the covering material past a cutter tothe support or form. The support or form is usually adjustable inrcspectto the cutter so as to vary its distance therefrom, and thecutter is ordinarily operated intermittently so as to subdivide thecovering material into sections of uniform length.

v One of the main features of my invention involves the supporting androtating means for the box support or form, so that the position of thelatter may be adjusted at will without interfering with the continuousand uniform rotation.

A further feature or my invention relates to the mechanism foroperating" the cutter automatically in proper synchronism with the boxform or manually and independently of the box form.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which simllar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures, and in which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig.2 is atransverse section on the line 2-2 of 'Fi 1; Fig.- 3 is a sectionon the line 3-8 0 ,Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 's a longitudinal section throughthe spind e of the box support or form and showing the operating meansfor the latter, said section being taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In the specific form illustrated, I employ a body portion or table 10,supported upon suitable legs 11 and having a power supply c lengththereof and below the top. Adjacent to one end of the table and mountedin suitable bearings in the table to is a shaft 13, hereinafter referredto as t e main shaft. This shaft has a worm wheel 14, shown in dottedlines in Fig. 2, and meshin with a worm 15 on the power shaft 12. bemain shaft 13 is thus continuously rotated at a comparatively slow rateof speed. Rigidly secured to the table and extending outwardly therefromis an arm 16, for supporting the box form and operating mechanism forthe latter. This arm preferably has one end encircling the shaft 18, andclosely adjacent the arm and secured to the shaft is a sprocket wheel 17and a cam 18. The sprocket wheel serves to transmit motion to the boxform and the cam serves to o crate the cutter. The cutter is adjustableto varying elevations in respect to the table, said cutter beingpreferably mounted upon the upper end of a vertica ly disposed rod 19.At the uppcrcnd of the rod is a head or cup 20, ravingoppositely-disposed brackets 21 and 22. The racket 21 carries astationary cutter blade 23, while the bracket 22 carries a rock shaft24. The rock shaft carries an arm 25 having a movable cutter blade 26and an arm 27, by means of which the rock shaft may be oscillated. Thematerial to be cut passes over the stationaryblude 28 and is subdividedby the lowering of the cutter blade 26 past the ed 0 of the stationarycutter blade.

or oscillating the rock shaft 24 to automatically or manually raise andlower the movable blade, the table is rovided with a bracket 28, to theup or end of which are pivoted two bell cran levers 29 and 56. Thelever29 has a handle 57 at its front end, and intermediate the handle and thepivotal support. of the lever, said lever is pivoted to anupwardly-extending rod 80.

'Ihe upper end of this red is pivotally connccted t0 the arm 27 of therock shaft, so that as the handle 57 is raised or lowered, the movablecutter will be simultaneously raised or lowered. The connections betweenthe rod and the arm 27 are such that the rod is normally locked againstlongitudinal movement in respect to the arm but may be readily adjustedlongitudinally in respect thereto. The two bell crank lovers are closelyadjacent each other and both have.

forwardly-extendin arms and downwardlvextendin arms. he handle 57 is onthe forward y-extending arm of the bell crank lever 29, while on theforwardly-extending arm of the bell crank lever 56 t ore is provided aroller 81 in the plane of the cam 18,

so that the roller follows the periphery of "wardly to operate thecutter, an

the cam during the rotation of the latter. The depending arm ,58 of thebell crank lever 56 has a forwardly-extending extension 59, from .theforward end of which a coil spring 60 extends rearwardly to thedepending arm 61 of the bell crank lever 29. The ends of this'spring areso connect-' ed to the two levers that its tension may be adjusted atwill, and the spring "is of such character that it tends to draw the arm61 forwardly and the arm 68 rearwardly. A stop 62 on the arm 58 limitsthis movement, so that the two arms normally remain in the same relativeposition as shown in Fig. 1. The major portion of the periphery of thecam lies in the arc of a circle of such diameter that the cutter blade26 is normally raised to its limiting position, but at one point of theperiphery of the cam there is a substantially radially-disposed face 32which permits the roller to dro downalmost immediately thereafter raisesthe cutter to its former position.

It is evident that any raising or lowering of the roller is communicateddirectly to the cutter, as the two bell crank levers are nor mally heldagainst relative movement by the spring 60 and stop 62. If the paper heof uniformly good character, the mechanism will operate substantially asthough the roller 31 were mounted directly on the lever 29, but inpractice, it is found that there is often had places in the paper whichhave to be cut out. To accomplish this, the cutter is free to beoperated independently of any movement of the cam. By pressing down onthe handle 57, the cutter 26 will be operated even though the bell cranklever 56 and its roller remain stationary. The downward movement of thehandle 57 merely extends the spring 60. and as soon as the ban-- dieisreleased, the spring immediately raises the cutter to its normalposition. The cutter thus operates automatically at every revolution ofthe box, and may also be worked manually at any time desired,irrespective of the position of the box.

The arm l6 which extends outwardly from the' end of the table, c'arriesat its outer end a transverse shaft 33 and an adjustable arm or frame34. Loosely mounted on the shaft is a sprocket wheel 35, which maybelocked to the shaft by a clutch collar 36 on the outer end of the shaft.A chain 37 connects the sprocket wheel 35 with the sprocket wheel 17 onthe main shaft, so as to continuously rotate said sprocket wheel 35. butthe shaft 33 may be rotated to vary its angular relationship in respectto the cam 18 by pullingout the clutch collar 36. The shaft 33 isnotjournaled directly in the outer end of the arm 16 but is journaled in asleeve 38 extending trans-- verselythrough the arm. The sleevetermithreaded on to the sleeve 38 opposite to the clamping arms and bytightening this nut the sleeve may be drawn longitudinally through thearm 16, so that the clamping arms 39, 39,- will bind the arm or frame 34against the side of the arm 16 and lockthe two rigid in respect to eachother. This nut may be provided with an outwardlyextending handle 41 tofacilitate'therota tion thereof and permit the arms 16 and 34 to bequickly adjusted in respect to each other.

The frame or arm 34 is formed of two opposed substantiallychannel-shaped members 42, 42, connected at their upper ends by ajournal box 43 and at their lower ends by a transverse member 44.Mounted in the journal boxes is the spindle 45.01? the box support orcarrier, and upon this spindle is a sprocket wheel 46. Upon the-shaft 33is a sprocket wheel 4.7- in the plane of the sprocket wheel 46, and atthe lower end of the frame 34 and adjacent to the transverse member 44there is a sprocket wheel 48 carried in vertically adjustable bearings.A chain 49 extends over the sprocket wheels 46 and 48 and engages withthe sprocket wheel 47. It may be retained in engagement with the latterby a.small idler 50, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The bearings ofthe lower sprocket wheel48'are carried by a journal box 43 may carry-acovering 53 over the sprocket wheel 46, the side members 42 of the arm34 may carry .a side plate 54 and the arm 16 may carry a casin 55 overthe chain 37 and its sprocket whee s. The spin- (He 45 which carries thebox form or boxsupport, may be adjusted longitudinally through the upperend of the arm'34 by llp'osening a'c'ollar 63 shown particularly in ig.4. I

Any suitable box support or box form may be secured to the spindle 45,so as to retate therewith. The specific construction of the box form orsupport constitutes no portion of the present invention, it beingunderstood that any construction may be employed for supporting a boxsubstantially as illustrated in dot-and-dash lines in Fi 1.

During the operation of the mac inc power is transmitted from the mainshaft through the chains 37 and 49 to the spindle,

so as to rotate the latter and wrap the box covering upon the box. Thecutter intermittently descends to subdivide the covering into sectionsof appropriate length for the box being covered. The distance to whichthe cutter blade is raised may be varied by varying the adjustment ofthe rod'30 and the arm 27, and the position of the box form in respectto the cutter may be readily varied by swinging the arm 34 about theshaft 33 as a center or'by bodily raising or lowering the arm 34 inrespect to said shaft. An

adjustment of the position of the spindle 45 does not necessitate anyadjustment whatsoever ofthe driving means for the latter automaticallyadjusts itself during the movement of the arm.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A box-covering machine, comprising a main shaft, a cam securedthereto, a cutter including a movable cutter blade, a pivoted arm havingoperative engagement with said cam, a second arm, connections betweensaid second arm andsaid movable cutter blade for operating the latter,and connections between said first-mentioned arm and said sec: ondmentioned arm to operate the cutter upon the rotation of the cam or topermit of the operation of the cutter independently of the cam.

2. A box-covering machine, comprising a main shaft, anoutwardly-extending arm, a second arm longitudinally adjustable inrespect to the first-mentioned arm, a box support carried by saidsecond-mentioned arm, and driving connections extending along said armsfor rotating said box support from said shaft.

- 3. A box-covering machine, comprising a main shaft, anoutwardly-extending arm, a second arm longitudinally adjustable'inrespect to the firstmentioned arm, a box support carried by saidsecond-mentioned arm, driving connections extending along said arms forrotating said box supportfrom said shaft, a cutter, and means forintermittently operating said cutter from said shaft.

4. A box-covering machine having a frame, an arm extending outwardlytherefrom, a sleeve extending through the outer end of said arm, asecond arm adjustably secured to said sleeve, a shaft extendin throughsaid sleeve, means for driving sai shaft, a box support at one end ofsaid second-mentioned arm, and means for rotating said box support fromsaid shaft.

5' A box covering machine, comprising a frame or table, an armextendingoutwardly therefrom, a sleeve extending through the outer endof said arm and havin clampin members, a second arm adjustatfiy securedto the first-mentioned arm by said clamping members. a shaft extendingthrough said sleeve, means for driving said shaft, a box support at oneend of said second -mentioned arm, and means for rotating said boxsupport from said shaft.

6. A box covering machine, comprising a supporting table or frame, anarm extending outwardly therefrom, a second arm carried by thefirst-mentioned arm and adjustable in respect thereto, a box carriermounted on said second-mentioned arm, a shaft adjacent the intersectionof said arms, driving connections for said shaft and extending along thefirst-mentioned arm, and driving connections for said box support andextending along the second-mentioned arm from said shaft.

7. A machine of the class described, comprising a frame or table, astationary arm extending outwardly from said table, a sec ond armpivoted to the outer end of the firstmentioned arm and extendingsubstantially vertically, a shaft journaled on said table, a shaft atthe intersection of said arms, a spindle at one end of the second-namedarm and adapted to carry a box support, driving connections between thetwo first-mentioned shafts, and driving connections between thesecond-mentioned shaft and the spindle.

8. A machine of the class described, comprising an outwardly-extendingarm having a member extending transversely therethrough and terminatingat its outer end in clamping arms, a second arm extending between saidclamping arms and supported thereby, means for moving said memberlongitudinally to lock said arms rigid in respect to each other, aspindle carried by the last-mentioned arm and adapted to carry a boxsupport, and means for rotating said spindle.

9. A box covering machine having an outwardly-extending arm, a secondarm ad-' justably secured thereto, a shaft at the intersection of saidarms, means extending alongthe first-mentioned arm for driving saidshaft, sprocket wheels adjacent opposite ends of the second-mentionedarm, a sprocket wheel on said shaft, a chain extending over the twofirst-mentioned sprocket wheels and in engagement with the lastmentioned sprocket wheel, a spindle rotated by one of the twofirst-mentioned sprocket wheels, and means for adjusting the position ofthe other of the two firstmentioned sprocket wheels to maintain thechain taut.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL M. LANGSTON. Witnessesi ANNA W. KUEnznL, SARAH A. Sosmcn.

